Chapter 8: Chapter 7 Confrontation

Tect was stunned, how could things possibly get worse, the old man didn't leave him guessing for long. "With so many empty houses in town we thought that there would be plenty of food still in their stores, but with no one to tend them for so long rats took over and now they have made there way into other peoples stored food. We'll be eatin' the horses before long. No one is even considering helping the goblins, a few people think we outta take what little food you all have for ourselves." Tect shook his head and laughed, " We have less than 2 dozen chickens and some moldy potatoes, we won't make it two more weeks. If your people think they can take it they can try, you'll definitely have plenty of food for the number of people who will be left." Julia's jaw dropped, "What about your mushroom farm?" Tect is confused, he hasn't seen a mushroom farm since he was a child. "I haven't seen a mushroom farm since I was a child, we aren't allowed to garden in the slave pens." Now the old man wore a look of confusion, "When the overseer built that horrid place he assured us you were all being well cared for and that you had your own farms and he gave you food to compensate you for the work you were doing. Has that all been a lie?" Now it was Tect's turn to be surprised, "We are slaves, we have never been compensated for work, we get so little food that more goblins die of malnutrition than the whips, and they have salted every small garden we ever tried to grow. Why would anyone think otherwise, has no one from town ever even come to the slave pens to see the conditions, even so humans don't care what happens to goblins anyway, only you two are different." Julia and the old man are clearly upset by what they are hearing, the old man is stunned for a bit, then gets incredibly mad, "Why did you never tell us you suffered so much, we surely knew that the life of a slave wasn't rainbows and sunshine, but we were told you were given the same care an indentured human would receive. The overseer would even have ceremonies in town when one of your people would save up enough to buy their freedom." Tect just sighs, "If a goblin speaks to a human about life in the pens two things happen, the human says we are just trash and should be happy not to be living like animals in a cave, or the overseer finds out and the goblin is beaten, sometimes to death." The old man slumps back into his chair, "Im sorry Tect, we should have been more vigilant. I promise you the people of this village aren't that bad. We originally opposed having slaves kept and traded anywhere near town, we only agreed after we were told you would be so well kept, we thought it would be better than living in a cave in the wild, we thought when your people were set free that they had jobs and places to call home in the other towns and cities. We should have done more, hell we should have known better." Tect finally took a seat in the chair Julia had been offering him, it was alot to process, Tect knew humans weren't all bad, but still his clan had suffered immeasurably by their hand. The group sat in silence for quite some time. Julia's son Arnold finally looked up from his toys and saw Tect, and his grandpa looking sad. Shakily standing up he started smacking his grandpa's knees, " 'Mile pap!" then he wobbled over to Tect and smacked his knees, " 'Mile Tet!!" Thats all it took to bring a smile back to both their faces, even if only for a minute. Tect scooped up little Arnold and tossed him up in the air, "You smile Arnold." Arnold begins to giggle as Tect tosses him up again and again, before asking Tect to stop. Tect holds Arnold so his feet are on his knees, Arnold purses his lips, attempting his best angry face then reaches out and smacks Tect on the forehead, "Bad Boblin Tet." This totally shatters the melancholy of the room and all 3 adults begin to laugh. It takes nearly 5 minutes before everyone is calm again, when finally Tect breaks the silence, "We are all going to die if we don't do something, if all the goblins leave then we have a chance of surviving, but it's not very high, and some of your people will probably starve or get sick without enough to eat. If we work together maybe we can make it." The old man nods in agreement, "Did ya have somethin in mind?" Tect thinks for a moment, "I do, your people may not like it too much though. You said there are rats, so thats where we will start. First, we teach the children how to make snares to catch the rats. No goblin children lived but you humans have a few. That will help protect your food stores and provide more meat." Julia can't help but make a face at the thought of eating rats. The old man's eyes light up, "Aye traps are a fine idea. If the ice isn't too thick on the lake we could cut a hole and lower in a fish trap too." Tect nods his head, "We could use the lumber mill scraps and hay to start growing mushrooms, if your people will open a few houses to us we can start that immediately."